Apparatus for extracting oil from shale



May 8, 1928 1,668,820 w. RHOADES APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING 01L FROM SHALE Filed Dec; 3 192s gwwnkou W/LL/AM Rumors U1. v ,8 Wm;

Patented May 8, 1928.

UNITED STATES CALIFORNIA.

1,668,820 PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FO R EXTRACTING OIL FROM SHALE.

Application filed. December 3, 1923.

' volatiliiable matter held in the-shale.

The drawing accompanying this specificationillustratcs the preferredform of my tip paratus, Figure 1 being a vertical scctlon taken'throughthe center, and Figure 2 is a section ofthe'retort as seen looking downfrom the line 22 of Figure 1.

The figures show at (l) a retort having a pot (2), distillation chamber1, sight tubes (3) arranged transversely through the the potanddistillation chamber, internal draft regulator and vapor takeoil' (at),shaker grate bars (5), gravity material delivery chute (6), preheatingjacket (7) for the incoming material, pipe (8) from sue tion fines tothe preheating jacket, takeotl pipe (9) from the lower part ofpreheating acket to an exhaust fan (10), a discharge pipe'(l1) from thefan leadingto any suitable condensing and separating system not shown,as forming no part of the invented improvements.

Within the preheating jacket around the ravity feed chute is a spiralfin ('15) to orce the hot vapors to circulate around the chuteon theirway'to the fan' (10). The

fan (10) may be complete with its powerunit, or may be driven by a belt(.22) from a motor (21). a

The take-01f pipes (at) take-the form of crossed pipes; as/shown inFigure 2, extending through the retort and having openings (13) arrangedalong their under sides. Within the pipes (4) ,are other separate pipes(16) having similar openings (17) adapted to coincide with the others,and the pipes (16) are longitudinally adjustable within the outer onesby means of hand Wheels (18), having stems threaded through the closedends of the pipes (4), as shown, and engaging the inner slidable ipe, sothat the openings are adjustable for. varying the draft suction. Theopeningsl(l3) are Serial No. 671:,231.

kept toward the under side of the pipes 1) .to prevent filling of thepipes with the descending shale being treated.

It is evident without illustration that the inner pipes could berevolved to vary the opening instead of being longitudinally moved.

In operation, alire is first kindled in the fire pot with anysuitablefuel, and the shale in comminuted form (14) is fed through the chute tofill the retort, the fan meanwhile being set in motion to create a draftupward through the fire and through the imbedded' takeoff pipes 4. v a

The adjustment of the draft should be. such as to keepthe zone ofgreatest heat in the.

region of the sight tubes 3) their varying redness as seen by lookingthrough them being indicative of the condition and position of the tire,and the shaker grate will require manipulation to continuously drop theburned material and thereby cause a steady descent of the shale withinthe retort.

The operation of the grate bars may be done manually by an attendant inthe smaller installations or better by automatic means, especially inthe larger installa'titms. Many forms of such means are now extant, andin the drawing is shown one actuated by a shaft (19) driven by wormgearing (20) from the motor (21) which drives the fan (10).

The grate bars are double, the lower set being fixed and the upper onebeing slidable thereover guided by stems (23) and (24), the latter beingpivoted at (25) ton lever (26) slotted at (27), and engaging at'itslower end a grooved cam on the shaft (19) whereby the constant rotationof the shaft causes a constant oscillation of the grate. The lever (26)is pivoted in its slot to a slidable. fulcrum stand .(29) to permitadjustment of the stroke to suitconditions.

As the motion-of the lever (26) is very slow it may be disengaged untilthe fire'is well under Way b 1 simply pulling out the loose pin (25)..The retort is provided with suitable fire doors and ash pit doors or discharge chutes as may be desired, no particular importance being attachedto any such well known construction.

In functioning to extract the oil from the shale, the heat volatilizesthe oils in a distillation chamber just above the tire and the 2 i 1mmgases are drawn ofl throu h the (pipes 4, 3 In an apparatus forextracting oil from pass ng spirally around t e fee chute, shale, aretort with means for supporting thence through the fan and ejected forcondensation in any desired form of condensing apparatus not forming apart of this invention. p

The preheating of the shale drives ofi some of the moisture and feedsheated shale to the retort, thus preventing the volatilized vapors fromrecondensing within the 1ncommg material to a tarry mass, and the fireis maintained on the fuel residue remaining in the shale afterextraction. of

the more volatile constituehts.

Having thus described my invention, it will apparent to those skilled inthe art that many changes can be made in the arrangementoi the parts anddetails of the a paratus, and any such as may come within t e scope ofmy invention are intended to be covered in the appended claims.

'I claim:

1. In a retort for driving ofi volatile matter from oil shale, a pipeextending into the shale within the retort having 0 ni therein andsuction means conne to ig:

ipe' for drawing the volatilized matter into the pipe through theopenings, and means for varying the area of said openings.

2. In a retort for driving ofi volatile mat ter from oil shale, a pipeextending into the shale within the retort having 0 enings therein andsuction means eonnecte to'the pipe for drawin the volatilized matterinto the pipe throng the openings, and means for varying the area ofsaid openings, said latter means comprising a pi e within the first pipeand having coinci ing openings and means for displacing reiation to theouter pipe.

the inner pipe in the shale therein for combustion, means for feedingshale to the retort, piping extending into the shale within theretortfor extracting matter volatilized by the heat of the combustionand connected to the suction of a pump, said piping between the pump andretort being arranged to carry the hot extracted "vapors around theshale being fed to the retort for preheating the material, and thedischarge of the pump being directed to a condensing system.

4. In apparatus for recovering oil from shale, a retort, means forsupporting the shale within the retort for combustion, a gravity chutefor feeding shale to the retort, meahs extending into the retort fordrawing ofi vapors disti led therein by the heat of combustion, meansfor iding the distilled vapors spirally around t e hute and including ajacket arranged around the chute and in spaced relation thereto and aspiral nn located between the chute and jacket, the said jacket havingan inlet at one end portion and an outlet at its opposite end portion.

5. In an apparatus for extracting oil from shale, a retort with a shakergrate adapted to support a bed of shale for combustion, a perforated ipeextendinginto the shale above the com ustion area within the retort, apower actuated suction fan arranged to draw gases into the pi throughthe perforations, means'for shalgiig the grate and operating the fan andmeans for varying the length of the shaking stroke while maintaining aconstant speed of the fan.

WILLIAM nnoiinn s.

